Challenges in Creating Environments for SOA Learning

SOA is now in widespread use by the industry and is a current area of interest for research. However a currently open area of investigation is how to properly introduce SOA in an IT/CS/SwE type of curriculum. Software engineering students must develop a series of abilities and skills related to SOA for effective professional practice. Providing environments where students go beyond learning some concepts and specific technologies to truly apprehend the complexity involved in SOA is a major challenge. This environment must be articulated in the context of business needs and other software architecture methodologies. Instructors need a new set of skills and abilities to tackle this challenge. This position paper discusses what such an environment should provide for students and instructors to effectively develop skills that will enable SOA practice in the business world.